Chapter 2 The Judiciary Part I Judicial Review

Chapter 2 The Judiciary Part I: Judicial Review

Chapter 2 - Judicial Revew This will cover pages 47 -86. I have covered a lot of pages 47 -61 in the previous lecture, but we will review a few things However, most of the cases we will talk about start on Page 61. A lot of theme of this chapter is when will the Supreme Court decide to get involved in certain disputes (or not).

Major Cases in this Chapter Marbury v. Madison (1803) Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816) Eakin v. Raub (Penn. 1825), Gibson, J. dissenting- Skim only Ex Parte Mc. Cardle (1869) Baker v. Carr (1962) Nixon v. United States (1993) Flast v. Cohen (1968) Hollingsworth v. Perry (2013) Evenwel v. Abbott (2016)- this is a recent case and not yet in the book

Marbury v. Madison (1803) This is the considered one the most important cases in all of constitutional law It stands for the proposition that the Court can review acts of Congress Facts/background of the case Jefferson defeats Madison in the 1800 election, and the Jeffersonian Republicans won a big Senate majority However, Presidents and the new Congress at that time did not take office until March 4 The period between the election and the new President and Congress taking office is known as the “lame duck” period Adams and his party pushed through over 200 nominations, including 16 judges, and a new Chief Justice- John Marshall- a close Adams’ ally

Marbury v. Madison- II When Marshall became Chief Justice, he was also Secretary of State The Federalists had authorized new Justices of the Peace in D. C. Marshall forgot to deliver some of the commissions The new Secretary of State James Madison and President Jefferson refused to deliver the commissions Marbury wanted his commission so he took the issue to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus under Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 The Jefferson Administration had abolished the JOP Court in question in 1802 Notice that even though Marshall had a stake in the case, he failed to recuse himself? Recusal is up to the justices themselves

Marbury v. Madison- III The Court had actually reviewed the constitutionality of statute before in Hylton v. United States (1796)- it involved whether Congress had the authority to tax carriages Hamilton argued in favor of judicial review in Federalist #78 Marshall has to be cautious Jefferson may ignore any decision There might be impeachment efforts against him and others

Marbury v. Madison- IV The questions they have to answer (at 154) 1. Has the applicant a right to the commission he demands? Yes, the President can appoint who he wants Everything was legal in the commission There was no legal reason to withhold the commission 2. If he has a right, and that right has been violated, do the laws of his country afford him a remedy? Yes, for the refusal to deliver the commission

Marbury v. Madison- V 3. If they do afford him a remedy, is it a mandamus issuing from this court? No, the part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that created original jurisdiction in the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus was unconstitutional Congress had no authority to create any additional type of original jurisdiction cases Note they said that Congress could not add- remember this when we look at U. S. Term Limits v. Thornton in the next section Thus, the Court established that it would had the right to review statutes to determine if they were constitutional

City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)- Congress cannot dictate to the Court what precedent to follow FRFA case trying to overturn previous precedent Congress had also tried to legislatively overturn Miranda v. Arizona (1966) Congress could not do this- Dickerson v. United States (2000) Congress can overturn a Court ruling when it deals with statutory interpretation Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire (2007) Lilly Ledbetter Act overturned this case, which dealt with when a the statute of limitation starts on equal pay lawsuits First law signed by President Obama in 2009

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816) But can the U. S. Supreme Court review individual state court decisions? Which Court is superior? The U. S. Supreme Court trumps all other courts History A loyalist had lots of property in Virginia during the Revolutionary War He died and left it to his nephew Virginia law said loyalists could not inherit land Virginia confiscated the land sold tracts off Chief Justice Marshall recused himself The Court heard the case in 1813 and sided against Virginia law conflicted with the 1783 Treaty of Paris Virginia Supreme Court said it was not subordinate to US Supreme Court Virginia Supreme Court declared part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee- II Who can interpret federal law? Can the federal courts exercise appellate jurisdiction over state courts? State sovereignty? “Appellate jurisdiction is given by the constitution in all cases where it has not original jurisdiction” Judicial power shall extend to all cases If appellate jurisdiction is concurrent, then the appellate jurisdiction of the United States might have no real existence “The courts of the United States can, without question, revise the proceedings of the executive and legislative authorities of the states, and if they are found to be contrary to the constitution, may declare them of no legal validity”. Uniformity of decisions across the United States Hence, the reason for taking cases today with split circuits!

More on Federal Courts vs. State Courts Cohens v. Virginia (1821) “The constitution and laws of a state, so far as they are repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, are absolutely void” States subordinate to federal government in this realm Mourdock v. City of Memphis (1875) Federal courts will not get involved in interpretation of state constitutional and legislative provisions 1988 Laws- Supreme Court no longer obligated to review state court decisions involving federal law. Eakin v. Raub (Penn. 1825), Gibson, J. dissenting Judicial self-restraint Judiciary not necessarily the arbiter of constitutional disputes Leave it to the political process to sort things out Court seeking not to be a “Super-Legislature”

Other Considerations Self-Restraint Some say the Courts should not get involved in disputes between branches Deference Is this tied to politics? Do we have both liberal and conservative activism? Democratic Checks Decisions can be overturned by Consitutional Amendment Only four times- 11 th (sovereign immunity- Chisholm v. Georgia), 16 th (income tax- Pollack v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust), 19 th (women the right to vote- Minor v. Happersett), 26 th (18 year old vote- Oregon v. Mitchell) Many others have been proposed- school prayer, campaign finance, abortion, flag burning

More Considerations Judicial Supremacy Only (? ) the courts get to decide how to interpret the Constitution Public opinion Anti-New Deal Court Justice Owen switches his vote in West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937) Reinstatement of the death penalty Roe v. Wade (1973) and its effect on abortion opinions Protection of minority rights But which minorities? Helping the privileged instead of the oppressed